Here I am... rocked you like a hurricane

Hello friends, family, clients, potential clients, cruisers-by, and so on…

(The title of my blog post is, well — posted — with apologies to the Scorpions and other general hair-band-era songs. In getting to know me, you’ll see I quote and appropriate many lines from songs, TV shows and movies. Stay with me. You’ll either love it or hate it… but it’s totally me, and that’s the point of a blog. Right? RIGHT?! **tap tap tap** Hello? Anyone? Is this thing ON?? **cricket, cricket** **tumbleweed…**)

Well, after much resistance (“resistance is futile!” –sorry, a quick Star Trek: TNG non-sequitur there. See? I’m doing it already), I am hopping on the photographer’s blog bandwagon. It occurs to me in this day and age, not to mention this ECONOMY right now, that viral marketing is the way to go. I could advertise on TheKnot.com, or similarly-themed bridal sites, and I have plans to do this at some point. Of course, having a booth at a bridal show is also a fantastic way to “put myself out there” too. But gosh, golly, gee, turns out these primo veins of showcasing myself is kinda pricey. And I keep reading up on my favorite photographer’s blogs, and it turns out often that their businesses got started through word-of-mouth themselves (and don’t get me wrong: they also employed good old-fashioned hard work and elbow grease). I love this! I am also on Twitter (KarenRPhoto, please follow me! There’s a badge and a mini-feed at the right of this column), and I plan on creating a Facebook “Fan” page soon as well. I am working on a brand-new website where I can show off, but in the meantime, this will have to do for mini-updates in my world. And by following me on Twitter, I will not only let you know what I’m up to, but I will also post specials and incentives for keeping up with my business. (Such as free prints with the purchase of a sitting, a few free 8×10s with the purchase of a gallery wrap, etc). What’s especially exciting is that I can post images quickly after a shoot, so you can share in my excitement… and with any luck, they’ll get you inspired too! And of course, I welcome comments, posts, suggestions… and without reservation, your unending adulation of all things wonderful that is me. (haha, this is a rather self-deprecating remark, in that I rarely spout my own virtues, but if you want to say I’m wonderful, it would be RUDE of me to stop you. Enough about me. Now you tell me about me.) ;-)

Oh. And if you feel so inspired, please, please, share this blog, my website, anything and everything pertinent (as long as it’s GOOD!) about me to your friends, family, acquaintances and so on. I’m a big believer in rewarding good people with good, random acts of kindness… and so in I return will give YOU incentives for doing so. If I hear you’ve been referred to me and we book a shoot, I will give you a percentage off your next shoot with me and/or free prints, etc. You get the idea. I’m a big believer in karma and the whole “Do unto others…” concept. Besides, it’s just nice to be nice, you know? A friend once said it takes a whole lot more muscles to frown than it does to smile, so take a smile and pass it on. Even if someone else doesn’t appreciate it, don’t YOU feel good for trying? It’s kind of catching. Sometimes I still remember small things that people do for me days later, whether it’s opening a door with a smile, or whatever. And you may never see the domino effect your small, easy-to-do good deed does to someone else, but who cares? It’s always nice to hear, but it’s what’s in your heart that counts. (and that’s what I try to capture in a shoot… what’s in your heart)

As a tangent to this concept… I used to work in music stores for many years, most of which have now gone the way of the dinosaur, the impetus being this very development by which you are able to read this: the internet (You used to work in music stores? You don’t say! You quote song lyrics all the time. Hmmm. Wonder where THAT habit started, hmmmmmm?!) While at Cal State Fullerton, I worked at the local Wherehouse (Music, Movies and More! was their tagline). Besides working in the sales dept, I often worked in movie rentals too. The “regulars” would come in. Some of them ALWAYS had a smile ready. Some seemed like they had permanent grimace lines etched into their faces. My personal goal was to get the frownies to talk and THEN: to talk with a smile. It became a mini obsession of sorts. I’m TRULY one of those “people-persons” that you hear about. I’m generally a happy person by nature. I wear my emotions on my sleeve. And in doing so, I hope a little of that happiness rubs off on those other people. I know it’s probably not the healthiest trait in the world, but a lot of my own positive self-esteem hinges on other people’s reactions and opinions of me. So if I made someone else’s day a little brighter, I feel really, really good about that.

And, if I can make someone’s LIFE a little brighter with my photos… well then, that’s even more amazing to me. I’ve been allowed to capture special moments and immortalize them. If those images bring days, weeks, months or even years of happiness to those people, can you imagine how happy that makes ME? To be able to help people’s lives be just a little better, no matter how big or small, or however we choose this path, it’s part of that chain I described above. I think general human nature is to “pass it on.” Right? I mean, when you’re driving and someone cuts you off in traffic, or looks like they’re angry and they wave their hands around like angry monkeys in the wild flinging you-know-what, don’t you end up irritable and angry too? Have you ever tried to end up tailgating them, or trying to go around them and cut them off? SO not productive, but you THINK it will make you feel better. Or then, you get into work and end up in a foul mood because of one isolated incident. Which incidentally, is not about you, it’s just how we naturally internalize these actions that happen upon us from someone else’s foul mood. But when someone does the unexpected — returns a lost trinket to you that you didn’t know you’d dropped while walking ahead of them, holds a door open just to be nice, lets you go in front of them at the grocery store because you have 3 items and they have like 18, despite the fact they got there ahead of you – doesn’t that make you feel good? And you go into your next destination all happy and wanting to do something nice for someone else? See? It’s human nature to pass along good will when it happens to you. (I had an ex-boyfriend who would occasionally go through the drive-thru, and every so often, even though he wasn’t rich, would just randomly pay for the meal for the person behind him in line. [It may have been because it was a cute girl. I don't know!] He wouldn’t leave a name or any info… he would just say, “I’d like to pay for the order of the person behind me.” THAT is a great thing.)

So. Umm. I guess now I should get off my happy happy joy joy soapbox. Now what? Um… for those of you new here and don’t know me… do you want to hear about my background, where I came from …? (It all started in the mile-high city of Denver one stormy night, when a blizzard blew in…) Do you want to know about my specialities? Do you want to know about my current jobs? (well, the purpose of this blog is kinda about that anyways… so you’ll get that, like it or not!) Do you want to know what kind of services I offer? (photographic services, wise-guy/gal! Don’t get me started with smart-mouthed comments!) Let me know. I’m sure eventually this blog will take on a life of its own. But for now, give me some direction and I’ll try to take you there with me. I hope this entertains you and informs you equally. And seriously… in case you haven’t noticed, I write much like I talk: stream-of-consciousness… I run off on tangents, but I will always try to get back to the beginning and take you with me. I swear all of my tangents have a point. At least, in my convoluted little head they do. :-)

In the meantime… thanks so much for stopping by. I look forward to meeting all of you. And, look out, world! Because … (wait for it… wait for it…) HERE I AM! ROCKED YOU LIKE A HURRICANE!

Oh! And in the next post, I’m adding some pix of a recent shoot I did too. Happy reading — and looking!

peace out,
karen revelle